Ceiling Dogs: Natural predators used by Unique Pest Management Offers Effective Rat Control


Rats live in the shadows alongside us. We live in the sunlight, above, and they live where we can’t see them—generally below in basements, inside walls, subways and sewers—but also above us in commercial drop ceilings. We’ve done a few articles that feature rats dropping from these drop ceilings onto peoples’ dinner plates, and these unexpected “drop-ins” horrify us, and compel us to find effective measures to get rid of them.
What kind of dogs does Unique Pest Management use?


Mullaney uses Patterdale Terriers, which is a breed of dog descended from Northern England terrier breeds of the early 20thcentury—with their origins traced
back to the Lake District (famous for the poet Wordsworth), and specifically to Ullswater Hunt Master Joe Bowman, an early Border Terrier breeder. The dogs were originally bred for hunting and killing of the red fox in order to protect sheep herds from this predator in the rocky fells around the Lake District where a traditional digging dog wasn’t the best answer. The terrier needs to be able to
How Do the Dogs Work?
The Mullaneys conduct their own
smaller Patterdales so that they could get up into commercial drop ceilings and clear out rat infestations. They need to be small enough to get into the ceiling and do their work, but not so large they bring down the ceiling on everybody’s heads. So Unique Pest Management uses ladders to get the dogs
These dogs are so good that they’ve been featured in National Geographic Magazine in the April 2019 issue! They have 18 dogs, not all Patterdales; a couple are bed bug dogs, a couple are mouse dogs, and the majority of the dogs are ratters. Scott explains that the dogs love what they do. They don’t seem to have fighting or aggression issues with the dogs—and Scott addressed with this writer the importance of allowing the dogs to be dogs on their off time. They get to play and hang out with the family and/or their handlers at home. They get to socialize with other dogs. Some of us humans could take some lessons in good work/life balance from these dogs!
Unique Pest Management has 2 service centers to service the Washington, DC Metro area and the New England area. The Mullaneys train handlers, and there are 11 people working for them. Handlers usually take about 4 to 6 weeks to train to use and handle the dogs, and a further 4 to 6 weeks working as part of a team. When they are released to go work a job, they are shadowed for a while just to make sure everything is ticking along as it should, and to assist the handlers if needed.
When asked if he loved his job, Mullaney had one thing to say—“Working with these dogs is cool as hell!” We adamantly agree with him! The bond between dogs and humans is a lasting one, and as long as there are rats invading where we live, these dogs will have an important job to do to help us live healthier lives, while having a purpose.
Other interesting applications : Damage to Commercial Jet tail & Commercial Jet Cargo bay
about their business, in conversing the passion, focus, knowledge, manifest in the professional, dedicated service they provide customers and community.
We are humbled they awarded us time to teach us and feature on highlighting an environmentally method for pest control, naturally have to mention the brilliant, hardworking dogs, particularly impressed that Scott mentions importance of work, hanging out with the family, socializing.
Tags: Environmentally friendly, Integrated Pest Management, IPM, National Pest Management Association, Norway rats, NPMA, NWCOA, NYPMA, Pest management, PestWorld2019, Public Health, Rat infestation, Rat poisen, Unique pest management